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Nicholas de Grandmaison’s first exposure to indigenous Canadians was in 1930, on a trip to The Pas, in northern Manitoba. It was a life altering encounter. He felt an immediate connection and affinity with the First Nations people, one that compelled him to seek further encounters. He travelled broadly in his pursuit, to various Cree communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and then to Southern Alberta where he encountered the Blackfoot, Sarcee, Peigan, Stoney, and Blood Tribes that he would come to know well. De Grandmaison dedicated his career to recording the faces of First Nations individuals, considering it a “great honour” to paint them. He could see that these were a People in transition, and whose traditional way of life was threatened. When he realized that his work had historical significance, he began to collect more information on his sitters, taking photographs, noting information, and recording oral histories.
Nicholas de Grandmaison’s dignified and expressive portraits skillfully capture the humanity of each individual, while also capturing the proud and ancient spirit within. As a body of work, their cultural significance is momentous. De Grandmaison received many honours for his work: He was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy; he was awarded the Order of Canada; he received an honourary degree from the University of Calgary; and perhaps the greatest tribute came in 1959, when he was made an Honorary Chief of the Peigan Nation and given the Blackfoot name of Eenuk-Sahpo’p (Little Plume).
Literature: History in Their Blood: The Indian Portraits of Nicholas de Grandmaison” (Hugh A.Dempsey; 1982).
